Photographic composition apparatus



May 19, 19.70 L, M. MOYROUD 5 5 I PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPOSITION APPARATUS 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 23, 1967 MLL FIG.

FIG. 2

ATTORNEY mmmmmmmmmmmmm 94 MMMMMMMMMMMMMMFI May 19, 1970 L. M. MOYROUD II PHOTOGRAPH-IQ COMPOSITION APPARATUS Filed Feb. 23, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet2 FIG. 3

FIG.7

1 l o lO Ol INVENTOR LOUIS M, MOYROUD "EMQM ATTORNEY United StatesPatent Int. 01. B41b 21/26 US. CI. 95-45 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE An optical system for forming one or more short segments ofcomposed text into one long line of text. The short segments comprisinggenerally alphanumeric characters can be displayed on the face of acathode ray tube or projected by other types of character presentationsystems commonly used in photographic type composing machines, to animage plane. A plurality of beam splitters and associated shutters arepositioned between the character presentation system and the imageplane. The beam splitters and associated shutters merge the imagesegment into a long line of text. An accumulator and associated controlcircuits store each line segment prior to projection. Each segment isterminated after counting a predetermined number of character widthunits, prior to initiating the next segment on the line. The opticalsystem can automatically change the point size of a projected characterby selectively energizing one of a plurality of light shutters.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This case is acontinuation-in-part of my copending application Ser. No. 506,936 filedNov. 9, 1965 now Pat. 3,416,420, and is also a continuation-in-part ofUS. Pat. 3,254,579.

The line lengthening arrangement can conveniently be used in thephototypesetters disclosed in the following: Pat. No. 3,291,015, issuedDec. 13, 1966 and in copending application Ser. No. 441,738, now Pat.Nos. 3,422,736 and 506,936 as well'as others.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF INVENTION This invention relates to an opticalarrangement for use in conjunction with phototypesetting apparatus. Moreparticularly this invention relates to means for optically projectingline segments so that they are combined on a common base line to formone long and continuous line.

It is generally recognized in the graphic arts that in many instances itis very desirable to generate lines of composition at very high speedssuch as one thousand characters per second in order to rapidly set apage of composition. In the case of newspapers this page size is veryoften on the order of 16 inches wide by 22 inches long.

In almost all present high speed phototypesetters it is very diflicultto compose a line 16 inches wide. In opticalmechanical phototypesettersthe line length is limited by the amount of light available to project acharacter and by the optical limitations involved in spacing charactersor line segments along a line. On'the other hand in phototypesetterswhere the characters are displayed on the face of a cathode ray tube theline length is limited by the size of the face of the tube and by thetendency to introduce distortion into the character images toward theperiphery of the face of the tube. To make a cathode ray tube largeenough to display a sixteen inch line would be very costly.

Accordingly, one of the objects of this invention is to provide a meansfor producing long lines of composition from line segments displayed ona relatively small display device.

Another object of this invention is to provide means to utilize arelatively small and inexpensive cathode ray tube for setting relativelylong lines of composed characters.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a means forspacing of line segments transversely across a photographic film withoutthe need for any mechanical movement.

The invention itself, both as to its organization and method ofoperation, as well as additional objects and advantages thereof, willbecome more readily apparent from a reading of the following descriptionin connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention will be described inrelation to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 represents schematically preferred means to obtain long lines byjuxtaposition of relatively short segments of the line, produced eitheron the face of a cathode ray tube or by projecting characters from amatrix.

FIG. 2 represents a line divided into segments.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of the control of a charactergenerating cathode ray tube.

FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of another arrangement to producelong lines by the successive optical projection of short line segments.

FIG. 5 is a representation of the face of the character generator inFIG. 4 showing displayed on it a segment of a line.

FIG. 6 represents yet another arrangement for optically projecting along line from simultaneously produced short line segments.

FIG. 7 is a representation of the face of the character generator inFIG. 6 showing the simultaneously produced short line segment one abovethe other.

FIG. 8 represents an arrangement for instantaneously changing theenlargement ratio of characters being projected in a phototypesetter.

In the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1, groups of characters representinga segment of a line of composition are produced on the face 3 of acathode ray tube 4. It is well known in the art that it is considerablyeasier to produce short lines of characters of typographical quality atthe face of a cathode ray tube rather than long lines containing manycharacters. In the example shown, line fractions of relatively shortlength d are generated on the face of cathode ray tube 4 by circuitrynot shown here but well known in the art. In general more than onesegment will be included in the length of line 1' as seen in FIG. 2.

It should be understood that line segments are generally produced byilluminating or generating characters one after the other at usually arapid rate. The characters forming the line segments can be generated inthe same sequence in which they form the line as described in co-pendingapplication Ser. No. 441,738 or in a random fashion as described inco-pending application Ser. No. 506,936, in which the cathode ray tubeoperates as a light source, rather than as a means of generatingcharacters.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, light beam 15 entering the optical system 16can be split into four different beams shown as 21, 23, 25 and 27 by theuse of beam splitters and mirrors. Electro-optical shutters or any otherequivalent means are provided at 28, 30, 42 and 50. These could consistof commercially available plates marketed under the trade name Varad.Each of these electro-optical shutters can be operated respectively bywires 52, 54, '56 and 58 connected to the control circuit of themachine. The circuit operates in such a way that only one at a time ofthe electro-optical shutters can be in the operated position in which itallows light to go through. At the beginning of the composition of aline, during the projection of the first section of said line, shutter28 is operated so that light beams in the form of one or severalcharacters emerging from face 3 along path 15 can reach area 8 of film 6through the optical system 16, the beam splitter 18, from which theymove along path 17 to mirror 20, through beam splitter 22, to mirror 24and through the now transparent electro-optical shutter 28. When themaximum length of segment 11 has been reached, or when there is no roomfor one more character in this segment, and the line is not yetcompleted, shutter 28 closes and shutter 30 opens. Characters are nowappearing at the other end of segment d of surface 3. They move, forexample, from position 33 representing the end of a segment to position31 representing the beginning of a segment. The same procedure isrepeated for the second segment of the line to be composed which will beprojected at location on the film along path 15, 17 and 23 throughshutter 30. At the end of the production of this second segment shutter30 closes and shutter 42 opens at the same time as the image generatingor illuminating means returns from posi tion 33 to position 31. When themachine decodes an end of line signal, all shutters close except shutter28 so that the projection system of the machine is ready to locate thefirst segment of the second line flush with the left hand margin of thepage after the film 6 has been moved in the direction of line spacingperpendicular to the plane of the drawing by a leading mechanism notshown.

As mentioned above, the application of the present invention is notrestricted to cathode ray tube character and line generation. Thecathode ray tube 4 can be replaced, for example, by a continuouslyrotating matrix drum of the kind described in our co-pending applicationSer. No. 441,738. Although appropriate optical systems can be used tostraighten the curved field produced by the segment of the drum surfaceprojected to the film, these segments are limited in length ifobjectionable distortions are to be avoided. The surface of a matrixdrum (as seen from inside) is schematically shown at 112 in FIG. 1. Thesegment or portion of the matrix projected to the film is comprisedbetween lines 31 and 33. Mirrors such as 24 can be pivoted around apoint such as 26 as shown by arrows 25 for fine adjustment of each linesection on film 6.

The shutter control will be explained in more detail in relation withFIGS. 2 and 3. It is assumed in the example that follows that characterwidths are expressed in fractions of an em, as is well known in the art,and as described in our co-pending application Ser. No. 441,738. Itshould be understood that this is not a limitation and character Widthcan be expressed in thousandths of an inch or typographical points orfractions thereof or in any other system of measurement. In the exampleillustrated in FIG. 2 the length of line i has been selected to measure1152 units, each unit being equal to one-thirtysixth of an em. It isassumed in this example that the line does not include any interwordspaces but only a number of letters It is clear that the method hereindescribed can also be applied to lines of text. It is also assumed inthe example that the width of M is 36 units.

The maximum line segment length which can be produced for example bycathode ray tube 4 is shown at 2 (FIG. 4). Its length is d which for thepurpose of this example has been taken as measuring 512 units. In theblock diagram of FIG. 3 character codes are fed from any kind of inputsuch as a paper tape reader through wires 60 to storage 62 controlled bya timing circuit 68. Characters are called out of storage one afteranother generally in rapid succession, and each time a character ispulled out of storage its associated width is stored into an accumulator64 which keeps a constant count of the accumulated width of all thecharacters already projected including the character next to beprojected as described in detail in Pat. No. 3,291,015. The accumulatedcharacter Width is used to control by circuit 6'6 the horizontaldeflection circuit of cathode ray tube 4 utilized to space charactersaccording to their Widths. The same accumulated width can also control amoving aperture or moving light patch as described in co-pendingapplication Ser. No. 431,738. The total capacity of width accumulator 64is the same as the number of units contained in line section d or in thepresent example 9 binary stages. The carry over of accumulator 64, whichtakes place when the 512th unit is added, operates a flip flop 70 whichshifts from position zero to position one and through wire 52 opensshutter 28 of FIG. 1. This shutter stays open until flip flop 70 goesback to position zero at which time wire 52 is deenergized and flip flop72 turned on. This condition occurs when the total accumulated widthreaches 1024 units. That is twice the length of line segment d. Likewiseflip flop 74 will be turned on when the total accumulated width reaches2,048 units, etc. Flip flop 72 through wire 54 energizes shutter 54 ofFIG. 1 and flip fiop 74 through wire 56 energizes shutter 42 and flipflop 76 energizes shutter 50 through wire 58. At the beginning of thecomposition of a line each letter M pulled out of storage causes 36units to be entered into the width accumulator until the totalaccumulated amount goes over the maximum capacity of the accumulator 64.This capacity is 511 units. The entry of the next M causes theaccumulator to carry which switches flip flop 70. As can be seen in FIG.2, fourteen Ms can be accommodated in a segment of length d representing404 units. The 15th M when entered into the accumulator produces a carrywhich closes shutter 28 of 'FIG. 1 and opens shutter 30. As 15 Msrepresent a total number of units equal to 540 and the capacity of theaccumulator is only 511 units, 28 units are left in the accumulator asunit number 512 is used to produce the carry-over, clear theaccumulator, and energize the next stage of the accumulator (assumingthat said accumulator is binary). The width of the 15th letter is thusentered into the accumulator, but the letter is not photographed as itwould cause a line longer than the maximum length of segment d. At thispoint, through means not shown but operating in the same manner asdescribed in our copending application Ser. No. 441,738 and Pat. No.3,291,- 015, character formation is returned to the other end ofsegments d. In the case of a cathode ray tube, this is automaticallyobtained by the action of width accumulator 64 upon the digit to analogcircuit. It can be understood, however, that the location at which thenext character will be displayed following an overflow of theaccumulator 64 will not generally be the same as at the beginning of anew line because of the remaining value in the accumulator which in thiscase is 28 units.

As soon as shutter 28 has closed and shutter 30 has opened, the nextsegment of the line is being projected and the width of characters forthis second segment is again accumulated in width accumulator 64 untilthere is no room for one more character. This condition occurs againwhen accumulator 64 generates a carry signal which causes flip-flops 72and 74 to switch. This causes shutter 30 to close and shutter 42 toopen. As explained above the process goes on until an end of line signalis read which causes a film feed for line spacing and the accumulationinto the storage of the next line of characters. Although the exampleshown enables the juxtaposition of four line sections, it is clear thatthis number can be increased or decreased depending on the optical systeutilized.

It should be understood that although in FIG. 2 sections of line d areshown in dilferent levels to better represent the remainder left in theWidth accumulator at the end of each line such as rand r. These sectionsare aligned on the same base line. The operation is similar to the onedescribed in our copending application Ser. No. 441,738 in whichsuccessive line sections are properly placed one after the other bydisplacing an optical system. The same purpose can be accomplished bythe modification shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. As shown in these figures, thesegment of line 2 of length d is to be projected onto film 6. A cathoderay tube is shown at 4 and two electro-optical shutters 84 and 86 areplaced in front of projection of lenses 88 and 90, Two projection lensesare shown in this example, but this is not a limitation and more thantwo lenses may be used without departing from the invention. The lensesare positioned in such a Way that, for example, lens 88 makes an imageof the illuminated line section 2 at .area 92 on the film and lens 90'at area 94- on the same base-line for accurate horizontal alignment ofcharacters. As explained above, the first segment of the line, forexample, 92 is produced by leaving shutter 84 open and shutter 86closed. When the width accumulator has reached full capacity, shutter 84closes and shutter 86 opens to produce the next line segment, 94. Lenses88 and 90 are accurately positioned so that no discontinuity isnoticeable between segments 92 and 94. This is also achieved by the useof a width accumulator as explained above in relation with FIG. 3.

In the other embodiments shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 the cathode ray tube orcharacter matrix is also associated with two lenses 102 and 106 but thefirst line segment is produced at location 80', on the display surfaceas shown in FIG. 7 and the second segment in another location 82,preferably parallel with and spaced from location 81. During theproduction of the first segment 80, the light emerging from the displaysurface is directed through lens 102 to film 6 to reach the common baseline 108 via an optical wedge 100. This segment is produced for example,while the width accumulator moves from count zero to count 511. At 512the electron beam, in the case of a cathode ray tube is shiftedvertically by a proper energization of the vertical deflection coils toproduce the next segment at position 82. At this position, the light isprojected in the same way as before through optical wedge 104 and lens106. Wedges 100 and 104 are designed to merge on the same base linebeams 103 and 105. Shielding 110 is provided to avoid stray light fromreaching film 6. At the end of the production of each full line the film6 is moved in the direction of the arrow 7 for desired line spacing. Inthe example of FIGS. 6 and 7, projection lenses 102 and 106 arepositioned so that both line sections produced on the same base line bywedges 100 and 104 are also juxtaposed end to end. This is achieved bypositioning each lens in the right location along line segment a. toachieve the results shown in FIG. 4. The lenses are represented bydotted lines 102 and 106 in FIG. 7. Lens location depends on the lengthof segment d and their focal length.

FIG. 8 shows an arrangement to instantaneously change point size. Theface of a cathode ray tube or a continuously moving matrix such as theband or drum as shown in our Pat. No. 3,291,015 is shown at 3 asdescribed in co-pending applications Ser. Nos. 441,738 and 506,936. Asource of light 119 illuminates the characters to be projected, forexample through a window mechanism not shown in this application butfully disclosed in the above mentioned co-pending applications. Theilluminated characters are projected through a double beam splitter 114either along path 121 after reflection by mirror 124 or along path 123,or along path 125, after reflection by mirror 116. The three beamsemerging from beam splitter 114 are each associated with lens systems118, 130 and 126 of different focal lengths, to produce 3 differentpoint sizes on the film 6. Characters are projected on the same baseline 108 after being deflected a second time by mirrors 128 or 120, andthe double beam splitter 122. The selection of one or another point sizeis obtained by selective operation of shutters 127, 129 or 6 131. Theshutter control can be obtained by decoding point size shift codes, asis well known in the art.

I claim:

1. In a photographic type composing machine the combination of acharacter display device adapted to display a plurality of charactersforming a segment of a line of composition an optical system comprisinga projection lens located to project the images of the plurality ofcharacters displayed by the display device, an image plane where saidprojected images are focused, a first beam splitter located on theoptical axis between the projection lens and the image plane effectiveto transmit a first portion of the image carrying light rays in adirection parallel to the optical axis and also effective to deflect asecond portion of said image carrying rays perpendicular to the opticalaxis, a first mirror spaced from the optical axis effective to deflectsaid second portion of the image carrying light beam to a path parallelto but spaced from the optical axis, a first shutter means located inthe path of said second portion of the image carrying light beam, asecond mirror located on the optical axis effective to deflect saidfirst portion of the image carrying light rays to a path perpendicularto the optical axis, a third mirror effective to deflect said firstportion of the rays from said erpendicular path to a path parallel toand spaced from the optical axis, a second shutter means located in thepath of said first portion of said image carrying rays, and means toactuate alternatively said shutters whereby the segments of lines ofcomposition displayed by the display device are projected one beside theother to form a full line of composition.

2. In a photographic type composing machine the combination of acharacter display device a first double beam splitter effective to allowa first portion of the light rays of the display character to followtheir original axial path while deflecting a second and third portion ofthe light in opposite directions in paths perpendicular to the path ofthe first portion, a first mirror effective to deflect the secondportion of the light in a path parallel to the first portion, a secondmirror effective to deflect the third portion in a path parallel to thefirst portion, a third mirror spaced from said first mirror effective todeflect the second portion to a path perpendicular to said first path, aforth mirror spaced from said second mirror effective to deflect thethird portion to a path perpendicular to said first portion, a seconddouble beam splitter effective to merge all three portions of said lightrays to a final axial an imageplane upon which said final axial path, animage plane upon which said final axial path impinges, three magnifierlenses located in the path of said respective first, second and thirdportions of said light rays effective to project a different sized imageof the character displayed by the character display device to a commonposition in the image plane, and three shutters each associated with oneof the three portions of the light rays effective to allow only one ofsaid three portions to reach the image plane at one time.

3. In a photographic type composing machine, means for instantaneouslychanging point size, said point size changing means including:

a plurality of lenses of different focal lengths positioned between acharacter presentation means and an image plane;

means adapted to direct light emerging from said character presentationmeans simultaneously, in separate paths, through each of said lenses;

means adapted to redirect light from each of said lenses to a commonbase line on said image plane;

a plurality of shutter means, each of said shutter means associated witha respective lens; and

control means for selectively energizing each of said shutter means,such that light is allowed to pass through only one of said lenses tothe image plane at a time, thus permitting instantaneous change of pointsize by virtue of said selective energization of image plane, in orderto form a line of composition a shutter means. of extended length. 4. Ina photographic composing machine, including I :haracter presentationmeans; optical means for projecting References Cited 1 plurality ofcharacters in order to form at least two line segments, and an imageplane; 5 UNITED STATES TE means for accumulating or storing apredetermined number of width units corresponding to the desired 29425386/1960 Bechtold 95*4'5 length of a particular line segment- 310688110/1963 Kgpur 95*4'5 3,254,579 6/1966 H1g0nnet 954.5

control means connected to said accumulating means 10 such that thestoring of the last of sa1d predetermined number of width unitsenergizes said control means JOHN HORAN Pnmary Exammer in order toterminate the line segment under composi- L. H. MCCORMICK, 1a.,Assistant Examiner tion, and to initiate the composition of the nextline segment; and 15 US. Cl. X.R. optical means for merging each of saidline segments 355-40, 66

one after another along a common base line on said

